The year 1907 proved to be a fairly good year for Ellen White in the advancement of her literary work. There was some travel, but all within California. The work on the preparation of books was interspersed with speaking appointments, interviews, and correspondence, and with visions of the night sometimes given to meet crisis situations. It was the year of Ellen White's shortest testimony.
New Year's Day at Elmshaven dawned clear, bright, and warm after several days of rain. But long before darkness gave way to the sunrise, Ellen White was up and writing, aroused from her sleep by a vision regarding the sanitariums in southern California, and some of the problems developing in the newly opened work at Paradise Valley and Loma Linda.
Her cheery words of greeting, wishing members of her family a happy new year, made it clear that she was of good courage that Tuesday morning, and after breakfast she continued the writing out of the counsels and cautions imparted to her in the early-morning vision.
It was a normal workday in the office. W. C. White had devoted Monday to letter writing, trying to catch up after a trip east. He continued on New Year's Day, and in a letter to his close friend, Arthur Daniells, he described what was going on (32 WCW, p. 619). Helen Graham was taking his dictation. Clarence Crisler, who had been gathering materials from Ellen White's writings regarding the work in the Southern States in anticipation of an E.G. White book devoted to that topic, was now assembling her writings on Ezra for a series of Review articles. The Sabbath school lessons for the first quarter of 1907 were on the book of Ezra, and it was hoped these articles would provide collateral reading.
The task was larger than anticipated, and while the preliminary material on Nehemiah was printed in the Review in March and April, it was not until January and February, 1908, that the five articles on Ezra were published. But the eighteen articles on this phase of Old Testament history were steps in the preparation of Prophets and Kings.
Dores Robinson was transcribing his notes taken on Sister White's talks in Oakland. Later in the day, W. C. White discussed with him the proposal of assembling her materials on Melrose Sanitarium for publication in a pamphlet as one of the numbers of the Series B Special Testimonies. Problems were developing there, and church leaders felt if such a pamphlet were widely circulated, it would be helpful. The sixteen-page document eventually appeared as Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 13.
Two of the women secretaries, Maggie Hare and Minnie Hawkins, both from Australia, were collecting materials on Ellen White's experiences in Europe and Australia.
Later in January the California Conference session would be held in San Jose, and it seemed desirable to present there Ellen White's counsel on the tithe and its use. On that New Year's Day, plans were laid for Dores Robinson to assemble the material, first to be read at the conference session, then published in a pamphlet and eventually in Testimonies, volume 9, a book then in preparation.
Ellen White did not attend the San Jose meeting but the material assembled, amplified by her document titled "Faithful Stewardship," was read. Later this was published in a thirty-two-page pamphlet titled The Support of God's Kingdom on Earth. Her article on "Faithful Stewardship" was brought into volume 9, filling pages 245-252.
Sara McEnterfer was searching the writings, published and unpublished, to find answers to questions submitted in correspondence from church members. This was a phase of work Ellen White could not give time and strength to, and was one of Sara's continuing assignments. Helen Graham helped her when she could.
Several members of the Wessels family of South Africa, including Mother Wessels, who had liberally helped the Avondale school with her means, were visiting northern California. They were entertained in the W. C. White home, and, of course, spent some time at Elmshaven (32 WCW, pp. 620-622).
Problems in Organizational Relationships
Here and there in the church at large, problems of unity and organization festered. E. E. Franke was leading a New Jersey church away from the denomination. In Washington, D.C., Elder L. C. Sheafe, one of the most talented black ministers, was, along with his church, bolting the denomination, largely over organizational problems. In Battle Creek, a contest over the ownership of the Tabernacle was nearing a climax (Ibid., 666).
W. C. White shared a letter with his mother written January 18 by Elder A. G. Daniells in Washington, D.C. It told of the Sheafe disaffection in Washington, and the steps his church was taking in pulling away from the denomination and striking out in the lines of congregational government. Sheafe was in close touch with Dr. J. H. Kellogg and Elder A. T. Jones, and had spent some time at Battle Creek Sanitarium. This visit lent support to Sheafe's urge for independence. It gave support to the views on organization that were counter to those for which the church stood.
On February 4, Ellen White wrote to Daniells concerning the "present situation" and declared that at Battle Creek "a strong testimony should be borne ... all the time regarding proper organization," and that "the movements of Elder A. T. Jones must be carefully watched."--Letter 24, 1907.
The same day she wrote to Elder Sheafe:
Dear Brother,
I am writing to you in the early morning. In the night season I have had representations of your case, and have been conversing with some of the brethren in Washington, D.C., in regard to the work to be done in that city.
Elder Sheafe, Satan has been at work upon your mind, and for a long time you have been entertaining his suggestions.... You have lost your bearings concerning many things, and cherish some views that bear the same mark of spiritual disease that has led to the disaffection at Battle Creek. And the enemy is working through you to spoil the flock of God. The Lord bids me to say to you, Stop right where you are.
She urged that he let no man unsettle his faith, and she admonished:
Do not, I beg of you, turn aside to strange doctrines. In the visions of the night I am charged by the Lord to warn you against this. I want you to be a happy man in this life, a representation of what a minister of Christ should be.--Letter 44, 1907.
Unfortunately, the warnings and appeals went unheeded. A few years later, Elder A. T. Jones, after his full apostasy, joined the breakaway church led by Elder Sheafe.
On that same day, February 4, 1907, as her mind turned to Battle Creek and the detrimental work being done by A. T. Jones, she urged that "we must make sure [i.e., secure] the control of the Tabernacle." She warned that "Elder A. T. Jones will work in every possible way to get possession of this house, and if he can do so, he will present in it theories that should never be heard."--Letter 38, 1907.
In the same communication she wrote that according to the light the Lord had given to her, "Elder A. T. Jones and Dr. Kellogg will make every effort possible to get possession of the Tabernacle," and she admonished that "we must not allow that house to be used for the promulgation of error."
The Tabernacle was built by the Seventh-day Adventist people. It is their property; and their loyal representatives should control it.-- Ibid.
In this letter Ellen White called for unity as a hedge against the seductive work of the adversary.
"Alone, So Alone"
Ellen White recognized that her responsibility ended when she had done all in her skill and power to present God's messages with love, concern and appeal. But when they were not received, her heart was heavy. She recognized that the hidden forces of evil were in the fray, and at times she felt very much alone. Early Friday morning, March 1, she confided her feelings in general:
I am carrying a weight of great responsibility, and I scarcely venture to speak of the weight that oppresses my soul, for there is not one of those connected with me that can possibly understand the anguish of my heart. I feel that I am alone, alone as far as any soul's being able to understand is concerned.
But why do I wish that they could? I have my Friend in Jesus, and He can help me and He alone. He has been to me a very present help in times of greatest necessity, and now I can only trust, and hang my helpless soul on Jesus Christ.
I am instructed that the less I have to draw upon human helpers engaged in the work in helping me, even in my own house, the better. It is wise not to trust in any mortal. I must move forward, not expecting they will understand. I must work alone, alone.
Then a heavenly being spoke to her:
"Who can stand by you in the hour of fierce conflict, when in combat with the powers of darkness, with Satan and his host of invisible allies? You will, as far as human help is concerned, remain alone. The Lord alone understands. In Him you may trust. Commit the keeping of your soul to Him who has given your special work to you.
"Your Mediator, your Comforter, will not leave you, although Satan will interpose his presence, his companionship. Be not afraid. I am your Redeemer who was tempted in all points like as you are tempted. I will impress your mind, and ever know I will not leave you nor forsake you."
She then expressed her determination, regardless of what she was called upon to meet:
I have been nearly overcome with perplexities. I will trust in God. All the reason I desire to live is to bear my part in the work as the Lord's messenger, faithfully discerning the evil because of the light given me, and also discerning the right. I have had very clear instruction, from which I am not to deviate one particle under any representation to, under any statement of, any human being--minister or physician.
As she thus contemplated, the heavenly messenger spoke to her again:
"In every spiritual conflict you are not alone. By the eye of faith you are to see your Redeemer as your present help in every time of need. In your experience of the message given you to bear, the truth is written just as it is in the books of heaven.
"All false statements made will appear just as they are, for it is against Christ that they do this evil, working on the enemy's side. They are poor, deceived souls, but they choose the darkness when they might have the light. They are those who are learning their lessons from the fallen apostate and they have eyes, but they will not acknowledge the evidence. They have ears to hear, but will report the very opposite of the truth which they hear, turning it to falsehood. There is not any dependence to be placed in the words they speak."
Then, with assurance the charge came to her:
"Go and bear your testimony, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you, and 'lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.'"--Manuscript 154, 1907.
The record of what took place at Elmshaven that early Friday morning provides an intimate picture of her relationship to her own experiences and lays the foundation for what happened the next Sunday night.
An Assuring Experience
Sunday afternoon, Elder Haskell had an interview with her regarding the work in Oakland and also concerning broadening the distribution of her books and other publications on present truth. The visit over, she was weary and retired early.
"I was suffering with rheumatism in my left side," she reports, "and could get no rest because of the pain."
I turned from side to side, trying to find ease from the suffering. There was a pain in my heart that portended no good for me. At last I fell asleep.
About half past nine [Sunday night, March 3], I attempted to turn myself, and as I did so, I became aware that my body was entirely free from pain. As I turned from side to side, and moved my hands, I experienced an extraordinary freedom and lightness that I cannot describe. The room was filled with light, a most beautiful, soft, azure light, and I seemed to be in the arms of heavenly beings.
This peculiar light I have experienced in the past in times of special blessing, but this time it was more distinct, more impressive, and I felt such peace, peace so full and abundant no words can express it. I raised myself into a sitting posture, and I saw that I was surrounded by a bright cloud, white as snow, the edges of which were tinged with a deep pink. The softest, sweetest music was filling the air, and I recognized the music as the singing of the angels. Then a Voice spoke to me, saying: "Fear not; I am your Saviour. Holy angels are all about you."
"Then this is heaven," I said, "and now I can be at rest. I shall have no more messages to bear, no more misrepresentations to endure. Everything will be easy now, and I shall enjoy peace and rest. Oh, what inexpressible peace fills my soul! Is this indeed heaven? Am I one of God's little children? and shall I always have this peace?"
The Voice replied: "Your work is not yet done."
Again I fell asleep, and when I awoke, I heard music, and I wanted to sing. Then someone passed my door, and I wondered if that person saw the light. [There is no record that those passing the door saw the light.] After a time the light passed away, but the peace remained.--Testimonies for the Church 9:65, 66.
After sleeping a little while again, she had another vision--this time about the book work, and the circulation of tracts and books (Ibid., 9:66, 67). Its main feature was to encourage more aggressive distribution of denominational literature.
Warnings to Safeguard the Battle Creek Tabernacle
At Battle Creek the crisis was looming over the ownership and control of the much-loved house of worship, the "Dime Tabernacle." The structure, which could comfortably seat 2,400 people, and 3,200 when opened fully, was so known because of the method employed by James White to raise money for its construction. Since it would serve the church generally, each church member throughout the field was asked to give a dime a month toward its construction cost.
The warning in the letter written February 4, 1907, referred to above, was not the first concerning the security of church-owned property in Battle Creek. On June 28, 1905, she had addressed herself to the subject:
I wish to sound a note of warning to our people nigh and afar off. An effort is being made by those at the head of the medical work in Battle Creek to get control of property over which, in the sight of the heavenly courts, they have no rightful control.--Manuscript 79, 1905.
A year later she wrote on July 27, 1906:
I have seen that the leaders in the medical work in Battle Creek will try to secure possession of the Tabernacle. Their scheming is so subtle that I greatly fear that this may be accomplished.--Letter 306, 1906.
Although at the time there was no evidence that this would or could take place, she told W. C. White that "it will require earnest effort to save the Tabernacle to the denomination."--30 WCW, p. 996.
Then on October 30, 1906, she wrote of how she had directed letters to different ones in danger of being misled and again declared:
The disaffected ones will make every effort possible to secure the Tabernacle, and to gain other advantages by which to disseminate their wrong theories and carry forward their apostasy. But the Lord lives and reigns. I am writing out the cautions He gives me. I will not give up.... It may be that I shall have to visit Battle Creek.--Letter 348, 1906.
The warnings were noted by Elder Daniells and other leaders of the church, and steps were initiated to guard the control of the Tabernacle. In 1863, years before the procedures the denomination now employs to hold and protect church property were instituted, a corporation had been formed to hold the ownership of the Battle Creek church. The articles called for trustees to be elected by the church at stated intervals. Under normal circumstances this would have been adequate. But things in Battle Creek were far from normal. The Battle Creek church operated without a pastor. The first elder, George Amadon, who for many years was connected with the Review and Herald, selected Sabbath-morning speakers from the many ministers in Battle Creek. In 1906 the young minister sent there to care for the needs of the youth made the selection of speakers.
As matters grew more critical, several ministers of long experience were sent in by the conference for a few weeks at a time to conduct special meetings.
Steps Taken as the Crisis Deepened
Now, as the crisis deepened and Ellen White was sending warnings concerning the security of the Tabernacle, church leaders, local and general, saw that the time had come to appoint a pastor. The man chosen was a much-trusted young minister, M. N. Campbell. He was 32 years of age and had just been ordained. Elder Daniells told him that the assignment would be no easy job. Daniells had just talked to the trustees of the Tabernacle about safeguarding it, and he told Campbell that the trustees had told him to go on about his business. When Daniells asked Campbell to take the job in Battle Creek, Campbell replied:
Elder Daniells, I'm ready to do anything in this world the General Conference asks me to do. If it's Battle Creek, all right, I'll go there.--DF 421c, M. N. Campbell, "Experiences With Ellen G. White," p. 6.
Upon this expression of his willingness to go, the local conference appointed him as pastor of the Battle Creek church. He moved there in November, 1906. In view of his commission, he was soon on the track of the trustees of the corporation that held the Tabernacle.
His first discovery was that the charter had expired in 1892, fourteen years earlier, and the trustees had done nothing to renew it. He did his homework well, seeking legal advice and studying the steps that had to be taken to keep the Tabernacle.
It was known that the men in control were very favorable to Dr. Kellogg and Elder Jones. The new pastor made friends with the trustees, meeting with them occasionally at the bank, where one was the cashier. He tried to gain their confidence.
One day in early January he asked, "Why don't you men take steps to safeguard the Tabernacle and have it reincorporated?"-- Ibid., 8, 9. They talked it over and decided to do just that. The date was set for the legal meeting.
But the agreement did not hold for long. When Campbell arrived home, the telephone rang. The trustees said that if they were to go through with it, A. T. Jones must have the right to take part in the legal meeting. Campbell's reply was a decided No! Jones was not a member of the Battle Creek church, and he was not a man the church had confidence in. Other conditions were proposed that Campbell could not accept, and the trustees declared that the meeting they had agreed to would not be held. To this the young pastor responded, "I'm here to tell you, my brother, that that meeting will be held."
But Campbell did not know how it could be done, and he pondered the matter. A day or two later the minutes of a board meeting of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in which the ownership of the Tabernacle was discussed fell into his hands. The minutes made it clear that the trustees were trying to play into the hands of men at the Sanitarium. While the informer intended that Campbell should only read the minutes, he had them copied while the one who brought them stood by impatiently.
The Legal Meetings
With minutes in hand showing the disloyalty of the trustees, Campbell confronted them with the choice of a legal meeting to care for the Tabernacle or having the minutes read to the church the next Sabbath.
They quickly agreed to the legal meeting, and it was understood that A. T. Jones would not be involved. They declared that if what the minister disclosed were to be made public, "we will have to move out of town." Campbell promised secrecy on the point if they would agree not to "move a finger to interfere with the procedures to be taken to safeguard the Tabernacle" (Ibid., 12).
But when the first legal meeting was held, every step possible was taken to delay or thwart what had to be done. In all, five critical legal sessions were held, each freighted with uncertainties. Both Campbell and Amadon reported on the last and most crucial one at which new articles of incorporation were to be voted and new trustees elected.
A little time before the meeting the pastor called a few of the leading brethren together for a season of prayer. "They were all good, faithful men," Campbell reported, "but I don't know that I ever saw a set of men more scared. Old Brother Amadon, one of the finest Christians that ever lived, moaned, 'If only Sister White were here, if only Sister White were here.'"-- Ibid., 14.
Campbell replied, "Well, brother, she isn't. No use groaning over that. But we are here. We've got to handle this thing."
All of them knew Sister White was in California, but Amadon continued, "Oh, if only Sister White were here."
Ellen White's Shortest Testimony Arrives
Ten minutes before the meeting was to open, a Western Union messenger came to the door and inquired: "Is Mr. Campbell here?"
Campbell said, "Yes," and reached out for the telegram addressed to him. Opening it he found this message: "Philippians 1:27, 28. (Signed) Ellen G. White."
It was a testimony, her shortest testimony ever. Opening their Bibles to the reference given, they read:
"Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God."
Elder Campbell reported:
That settled the question. That was a communication from Sister White that we needed right at that moment. God knew we were holding that meeting, and that we had a group of scared men, and that we needed help from Him, and so He gave us the message that came straight to us in the nick of time. It sounded pretty good to us.-- Ibid., 14, 15.
In spite of the fact that every conceivable step was taken by the opposition to block the work of reorganization, the meeting was conducted successfully and adjourned somewhat after 11:00 P.M. Elder Campbell read again at that meeting Ellen White's counsel to safeguard the Tabernacle. It carried "great weight with the congregation" (G. W. Amadon to WCW, March 15, 1907).
The next morning George Amadon wrote to W. C. White at Elmshaven:
With much joy I hastily pen you a few lines. Many thanks for the telegram. How appropriate was the scripture. Well, the church held the adjourned meeting last evening. It was half-past eleven before we got home. There was a persistent and unreasonable opposition to every step taken.-- Ibid.
Amadon reported that three fourths of the congregation voted for the articles and bylaws.
The Lord through His servant had sent warning messages. Faithful men heeding these messages had moved forward dramatically and with faith. The Battle Creek Tabernacle was saved for Seventh-day Adventists.